Sunday, 27 June 2010

Hooray - the Summer hols are almost here! Our kids break up for their school hols next week, so it's probably a good time to do a Giveaway as blogging/crafting/networking time may be a little reduced. In any case, I don't really need a good excuse for a Giveaway, but these are some little 'tweedie' leftovers from my craft stall last Saturday. It's unlikely that I'll be doing many, or any, craft fairs at all for the rest of the year so I thought I'd offload some stuff!

You can enter my Giveaway wherever you are in the world - just leave a comment saying what you would do with this little collection of 'tweedies' (tweedie seahorse, tweedie fish, mini-matryoshka and little lavender sachet).

I'll keep the Giveaway open until Thursday midday (GMT), and announce a winner later on that day - Cheerio an Drasda :)

Thursday, 24 June 2010

This month's Merry Go round theme: What's on your plate - healthy quick recipes that give us plenty of time to create

It's that time again, when a group of 9 like-minded arists/crafters get together to discuss a chosen theme/topic. It's been a bit mad here the last two weeks - Other Half working overtime, endless school events, prize-givings, etc - phew, never mind it's almost the end of the school term!

When things get really hectic round at our house, I usually get the homemade pizza on - it's a classsic for Saturdays which are usually intensive crafting days for me - no interruptions or time schedules make it a perfect day for me to get on with creating.

Here's how I make it, and just as well I made one tonight 'cos it was the only thing I could think of!!

Mix the pizza dough (I used the packet mix below):

Follow the manufacturer's instructions, then leave to rise in a warm place for 30 minutes (this is when you can get an extra couple of rows of knitting, sewing, felting, painting, stuffing, glazing, spinning, etc in!!) Roll out to about one quarter inch thick approx. Spread with some tomato paste, oregano, whatever you fancy really - then go to town with your toppings - I only had olives and tuna in tonight :(

Top with grated chees then cook in the top of the oven at the hottest setting for approx 10 minutes - Voila!!

As we say in 'Blogland' - Nom nom!!

Check out the other responses by the group members below - some may be posting at different times of the day, depending on geographical location, etc.

I'm running a little Giveaway on my Facebook page this weekend and will be doing the same on my Blog (same prizes - different colour scheme!) probably on Sunday - some little 'tweedie' leftovers (doesn't sound very appetising!!!) from my stall last weekend. Hope you'll check back then to join in - Bye for Now :)

P.S. You can enter both Giveaways of course - you never know you could win both!! That kind of thing never happens to me of course, hehe!

P.P.S. Sorry, I'm a little early posting as I'm at the 'office job' today :)

Tuesday, 22 June 2010

I wasn't sure what to call today's post, but given that I've used the old 'grandmother' clock as a backdrop for two of my new 'tweedie' products it seems appropriate enough! The first one, added to my own website yesterday is my new iPad sleeve (well, I had to, didn't I!?) - a natural progression from the other sleeves I've been making recently:

Available to order from here, and hopefully I will add some 'one-off' ones in my Etsy shop soon.

Next up comes a product which I showed you probably a couple of months ago - time flies, eh!! I finally got round to making a second one of these, from my original prototype, so I guess that means it's ready to launch! (Sorry, maybe too many time/space references, hehe) My 'tweed pod' has finally arrived, complete with packaging, and here it is:

He's a mini-version of my 'moon-monsters' which I made a year or so ago. I decided that they would be more fun to make in a smaller version, so this is the result - this version likes to play 'peek-a-boo', as his arms wrap across the body and close with velcro:

When he feels tired or shy, or wants to travel through space and time, he wraps himself into a little rugby-ball shape, and off he goes!:

He'll come neatly wrapped up, with a natural raffia bow, with his very own set of instructions enclosed - ready to give to some poor unsuspecting child who'll wonder why you're giving them a strange egg-shaped tweedie object!! But you'll know :)

I've had a lot of fun with my 'tweed-pods' and plan to make a few of them for my online shops - this particular one is all ready to ship, and available here in my Etsy shop, possibly in my Big Cartel store later too. Hopefully he will be accompanied by some other brightly coloured 'tweed-pods' if I get my skates on today - better fly! :)

From the Outer Hebrides to Outer Space . . . and beyond!!

P.S. I will possibly try and relist some of the items from my Tweed Plush Etsy shop into my Tweed Delights shop - when I get a 'mo'!:)

Sunday, 20 June 2010

Well, we made it . . . . to the event, and back again! For someone like me who is not really used to rushing about on a Saturday morning, it seemed like a real achievement to get there and set up, when I would normally be 'lolling about' over my breakfast in a leisurely fashion at home! I'm quite good at 'lolling about' :)

. . . a pic of my stall with 'makeshift' banner, which I think gave it an added 'tweedie' appeal! (The table was a little longer than I expected but a little length of tweed underneath would have sorted that out - note for next year!)

I decided to do a 'Name the Dinosaur' competition with one of my 'prototype' dinosaurs which has been languishing in my craft space at home for far too long!! This was a really fun thing to do, and I'm looking forward to contacting the lucky winner (contact details were added to the sheet along with a chosen name for the 'Dino'). I thought it added an extra fun dimension to the stall - there's nothing like a bit of interaction with the 'kiddies'! Quite a few of them wanted to walk away with him there and then :)

'Little S' was spending my 'takings' as soon as they were coming in on tattoos and burgers and all sorts of silly paraphenalia, but it was that sort of day!

. . . it was really a family event for the most of the afternoon - lots of kids running around with painted faces - which was nice to see :)

. . . and the lovely backdrop of the Lews Castle

All, in all - a good day out, enough sales to make it worth my while, and really another experience to tuck under my belt. This music festival event has lots of fun possibilities, so if I'm invited to attend next year (there are only a small group of us crafters who attend), I'll be a little more prepared in advance, with some more smaller, fun gift ideas. It's a lovely event to do, so I hope to make a return next year :) (with another dinosaur!!)

(P.S. Yes, and the music was excellent too - I even managed to have a beer! However I did manage to get myself burnt to a frazzle - silly moo! I retired a little earlier than planned to rest my poor sunburnt face - who needs to visit the 'face-painting' tent when you can look like a burnt tomato with no effort at all - ooops, I knew I'd forget something on my list, eg. sun cream!!)

I'll be trying to get a few last-minute 'tweedie' gift ideas, finished today for Saturday's craft fair (Sounds in the Grounds). Some little lavender bags embellished with vintage buttons. I feel today is not the time to start panicking that I don't have as much stock as I would like, but rather to take a deep breath and say 'I've done as much as I can, while juggling all the other 'tweedie' goings-on, in the last couple of weeks'!

Hopefully, my 8 year old will manage to keep going until late in the evening, so I'll be able to stay for the live music event - that's the plan, and you know what happens to plans ;-)

P.S. The lovely tweed in the background was given to me as a little 'extra' gift along with the rest of my tweed order - boy, was I chuffed!! Thanks Callum :)

Monday, 14 June 2010

It seems to be a while since my last post, but last week flew past, with an additonal day at the 'office job' and trying to get stock ready for this Saturday. I managed to sew up all of my 'tweedie' iPhone sleeves yesterday, which I didn't expect to do - so a nice bonus! Of course I decided to play around with the design and opted to add a leather button detail to the colourful tweeds, while leaving the herringbone version with a simple label detail. I'm quite pleased with the results, and have added them to my own website, as part of my 'made-to-order' range.

I will try and add some of these to my Etsy shop after the craft fair. Just a quick note that I have decided to limit myself to the ONE Etsy shop and will be winding down my Tweed Plush shop, just to simplify things for myself! (A girl CAN have too many shops!) Not stopping making softies however, heaven forbid!! :D

Saturday, 5 June 2010

I'm putting out some 'feelers' on my Facebook page today for anyone who owns a Macbook Pro (13 inch) laptop, so I'm extending the 'feelers' to my Blog - that's beginning to sound a little weird now, think I'll stop using that word, hehe!! I'm looking to extend my range of gadget sleeves, but before I go any further I would love for someone to do an honest evaluation of my Macbook Pro (13 inch) sleeve, which is made in delicious Harris Tweed of course!

In exchange for completing a little questionnaire about the laptop sleeve, you will of course get an added 'freebie' for your kind assistance! If you're interested in taking part, just pop a message to me via the Contact Page on my website, by midday (GMT) on Monday (7th June). First come, first served basis, so you'll have to be quick! Also I'll need some proof that you own this model of laptop - eg. a photograph, etc.

Only one prerequisite for applying is that you must be a follower of my blog :)

Thursday, 3 June 2010

Today my time has been filled with appointments of one sort of another in our local town - a quick visit to the library, and I came out with 4 books on patchwork and quilting, which I dutifully 'lugged' around town with me for about 4 hours (I mis-timed the last bus home!). So I really hope you appreciate this photo of my books 'cos I really worked hard for it, and my poor feet are killing me now, ouch!

Here they are lying on the grass outside, beside the daisies, as it's a beautiful sunny day here. At the moment it's a 'wishful creative space' until I catch up on all the 'other stuff' I have to do first! I'll get out there soon, I hope :)

Tuesday, 1 June 2010

Making my wedding cushions must have had a strange effect on me! I had a little remnant of that gold chord piping left over, so couldn't resist making a little pincushion in the gorgeous white tweed. I had a notion for using a little hand embroidery, some of my precious stash of bronze buttons, and a little piece of ribbon (someone might recognise it!!) - I just wanted to make something 'off the cuff' and unplanned - very enjoyable!

I managed to snap my best sewing needle in two yesterday (you'd think I'd have a huge stash of them!) - I always find one I really like and then use it to death! So today, I'm taking it as a sign to chill out and take it easy - what a lame excuse, hehe!!

Maybe the beginning of a new range of pincushions - who knows?, but I popped this one into my Etsy shop this morning - it's here :)

About Me

Welcome to my crafty-blog from the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland,where I was born and raised. It's a lovely place to be :)
Brought up in a Gaelic speaking household, 'Art School drop-out' from way back when . . with a passion for fabric and yarn:)
Your comments are always welcome - thankyou! Alison x